Lectures and Essays on Natural Theology and Ethics

Lectures and Essays on Natural Theology and Ethics

Excerpt

I have undertaken to write a short account of the life and work of the late Professor Wallace as an introduction to this volume of selections from his manuscripts. The existence of a College Tutor and University Professor is so quiet and uneventful, and Wallace confined himself so closely to his academic duties, that an elaborate biography of him would be out of place. At the same time, his influence over his pupils was so great, and his work both as a writer and lecturer was so unique in kind, that it has seemed desirable to put on record the main events of his life, and to attempt, so far as is possible, to estimate the main features of his character and the general purport of his philosophical teaching.

William Wallace was born on. May 11, 1843, at Cupar, the county town of Fifeshire. His father, James Wallace, began life as a mason, and got on so well as to become a successful masterbuilder. He and his wife, Jean Kellock, were a quiet, industrious pair, who mixed little with their . . .